"Do tell, what exactly are you drinking all the time? I mean, it's red...and you're part vampire, so it's obviously blood—duh—but what kind?"

"Mmh, huh?"

"God damn, could you please stop sipping on the flask?"

"But it tastes way too good, you know? Wanna try it?"

"Void no. Why should I want to do this? And anyway, I—argh, stop trying to divert my attention. Come on now, tell me what kind of blood this is."

"Goddess, why do you even care? Knowing changes nothing; it will only upset your feeble little mind. Besides, only Levia and I know its true name, and she really wouldn't like it at all if I were to blabber about it. And—till now—she's the only one who can create it. If ya really have an interest in it, ask her, not me."

"Just admit already that you actually hate me. You do remember that I absolutely loathe the oceans...especially that unsettling depth. Why are you always doing stuff like this?"

"Umm, because your upset face looks cute, and you're always fun to tease, Rialla...not like your ice queen of a sister."

"...well, Dira is a case of her own. But you must admit that her cold demeanor is quite cute in its own way, don't ya?"

"No, only you are feeling this way—nobody else. Now, before I get dragged into a conversation with someone who has a sister complex that I am absolutely not willing to have, I'd rather offer to tell you a little bit about why I ingest the liquid in the first place—besides the reason that it's just way too delicious."

"Ok, I'm all ears."

"First of all, the effects it has on you differ from person to person, or to be more precise, it depends on if you're of my blood or not. 

If so, then you become more susceptible to sealing powers. I don't mean those based on a purely magical component—those are only slightly amplified—but those based on complex medial constructs. Secondly, the effect is only temporary, but it keeps its promise. Now, you're probably wondering which seals I'm talking about here since I obviously can't mean the ones that keep the aspects in check." Rialla looked questioningly at the female Old One and was about to respond before she continued, "The constructs that become amplified by the strengthening are—in my case—the Anchors."

Rialla's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard; applying only one Anchor to oneself was akin to committing suicide.

"Why would you do such a thing!?" she shouted angrily at the Neade. "And you're not just talking about one, but several at the same time. I'm sure Calypso already told you that, but you're utterly insane, aren't you?! ...wait, Anchors are stationary and tether you to them...w-wait...h-how a-are you..."

Hot tears began to flow from Rialla's slitted eyes down her beautiful face. Somewhat moved by her reaction, the Neade took her in the arms and gently stroked her back.

"Don't worry, everything is fine. You don't have to worry your pretty little head about it either. As you can see, I'm here, so everything is okay. Now stop crying over something that can't be changed anyway. Think about what your queens would say if they saw their proud empress like this. Don't forget, you are the mother of all lamia, so you should behave accordingly. You know best that I don't mind such trivial matters. Besides, I like it much better when you smile. Soo, cheer up?"

A soft, amused giggle was heard. "You really suck at cheering up, like always. But this is also a vice I love about you," said the Lamia Empress as she gazed deeply into the Neade's eyes for a never-ending fleeting moment. Then, she pressed herself off of her and slithered—with her long shining rainbow scaled tail—a few meters away. "Still, I appreciate the attempt. A-anyways, why would you need them and for what?"

Suddenly, the expression on the Neade's face turned grim. "You don't have to know," was all she retorted in an ice-cold tone.

Rialla was about to riposte something conciliatory to that, but a dark aura announced the appearance of another being. 

"That's my call to leave," said the female Old One and began to dissolve into black smoke. "Until next time."

As soon as she vanished, a rift in space opened up, and Calypso walked out. She looked around for a brief moment before she focused her attention on the lamia. 

"Darn, I just missed her, didn't I?"

Rialla nodded slowly. 

"Daaamn it," she shouted. "That bitch lost our bet but doesn't want to pay up! You have no idea how long I have been chasing after her—bah so annoying!"

Slightly confused about all those sudden changes in the atmosphere, she asked, "What were the stakes?"

"Huh? Ah yes, umm...if she'd won, I would have had to leave her alone for a millennium. However, if I were to win, she would be mine for two whole weeks in her 'Sloth'-form and would have to surrender entirely to my cuddle attacks. Well, and as fate willed, I won for once. However, she tries to shirk, and I just somehow don't manage to catch her. Whatevs, what were you talking about? Your eyes are red and swollen."

"Anchors," Rialla replied weakly, her gaze wandering off into the distance.

Calypso nodded in understanding. "Yeah, not a nice subject. Even I can't comprehend why she did that, nor do I fully grasp why she created those other seals...*Cough Cough* Let me take your mind off it. If you help me to catch her, you'll get her for two days."

The lamia looked thoughtfully at Calypso for a second and replied,'' Four days, and we have an agreement."

"Only if you give me the one statue you sculpted of her."

"Deal!" came the reply promptly.

-------

Somewhere—at the exact moment—in a timeless, spaceless black void, a being caged in never-ending dreams, chained by countless white chains sunk deep into the pitch-black surface, opened its hollow eyes for a second and whispered a toneless sentence into the nothingness.

"Yes...don't worry...as you can see, I'm here, so everything is okay."

 

---

 

Once the whole spectacle had calmed down after Nyriel drank the liquid, we were ready to leave and join the other two in the dining room. Even if I had no freaking clue about what exactly happened, I could still see her soul and the changes within. They were drastically different from what I imagined and didn't even make much sense to me. While she was adapting to the changes during the whole process, I had to grin like a fool on the inside. Why? Because I understood absolutely nothing of what I could decipher from her soul. It was new, refreshing, and completely unexplored knowledge. I simply had to acquire it somehow. But I would still have to find a way to do so. And to do this, I had to take care of something else first.

"Well, we should head down now and join the other two in the dining room. They are probably sick of waiting already."

Nyriel's ears swiftly went up as soon as she heard my voice. She looked at me in disbelief and wanted to say something but somehow failed to form words. Her tail, on the other hand, was still wagging around excitingly. This girl completely lacked the ability to control her emotions, at least when I'm around.

------

After finally arriving at the dining room, we joined Deidre and Tulsi, as well as Sophia. The two seemed to have recovered somewhat in the short time and were no longer battered. The dining room was, as one would imagine in such a villa, too large, far too ostentatious, full of overpriced decorations and a dining table that was obviously created from a solid piece of wood. On the table were the finest porcelain plates, which were already ready for use. Next to it was expensive silverware. Honestly, not the most ideal room to discuss important things; however, I hadn't really inspected the other rooms and was unsure how comfortable I would feel inside.

As per my rank, I sat down at the position of the table, which was reserved for the head. The two demonesses sat to my right while Nyriel took a seat to my left. Only now did I notice, with a glance at the seated girls, that they seemed to be a bit tense after all.

"What's with the long faces?" I asked, my gaze fixed on the succubus. She flinched slightly.

"Well, Tulsi and I are a little uncertain how we'll proceed now. You attacked nobles, and I doubt that there will be no grave consequences. I, for one, have fought far too long for survival to let it end like this," Deidre explained herself, while Tulsi kept her gaze fixed on her hands lying on the table.

I sighed at this defeated sight. "You guys worry too much; nothing bad will happen that will make our current situation worse. I must admit, I'm a little disappointed—especially with Tulsi, who has already seen the raw power I possess—that you think I can't protect you. Besides, the archduchess will already settle the matter for us. And if you two are worried about being discovered as demons, I can give you magical items that cloak your aura entirely. So please stop moping!"

With these words, Deidre also began to look at her hands in shame. It was inexplicable to me how one could carry so much fear and yet, at the same time, so much pride. 

Now, however, my eyes turned to Nyriel, who, for some reason, had almost exactly the same look in her eyes as the two of them.

"And what's the matter with you? Are you unhappy with what your Status has shown?" I guessed.

"Maera!" hissed Nyriel and looked at me in horror. The facial expressions of the other two changed to sheer shock.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The succubus rubbed her temples. "How can you give a speech like that and then only a moment later do something like this?"

"Huh?"

"She really doesn't know, does she?" asked Nyriel, her head turned to the two demonesses while shaking it in utter disbelief.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

Deidre spoke up again and explained, "Well...Seeing one's Status is a rare Skill. Normally, you would require an identification crystal to do so. Some people like me also hold an [Appraise] Skill which does—depending on the Skill Level—exactly the same. But those Skills are hard to come by and even harder to obtain. Seeing your own Status gives you a huge advantage compared to others. Distributing Points become much easier. You don't have to keep a diary or anything else to stay up to date and won't accidentally kill yourself. It also saves a huge amount of coins and prevents unwanted information from being spread around. Knowing that someone has such Skills can give you advantages. That's why you don't talk about other people's Status without asking first. Doing so is a huge breach of trust."

"Oh...didn't know that," I answered honestly and scratched the back of my head.

"Seriously, have you ever seen a Status before? Because you really don't make any sense at all. Do you even have one?"

"Pffft, o-of course, I have one of...those. A-anyways, nothing of this is the reason why I wanted us to gather in the dining room. So let's change the topic to something significant, okay?"

Good Job, me, perfect diversion. I'm proud of myself...hey, did you lot just rolled with your eyes? Naaah, that can't be. I must hallucinate.

An unsettling silence kept lingering in the air for a while until Tulsi slammed on the table with a flat hand. Everything on it began to rattle loudly. Then she cried out, "Please, could we get to the point already? Sophia is nagging me since the beginning of this weird conversation and is desperate to know what your big master plan is. She's driving me crazy!"

I snapped my fingers. "Ahh, yes, yes, my big plan for the future that keeps everyone here safe. Actually, it's quite simple. We'll establish a secret evil organization and control everything from the shadows. Brilliant, isn't it?"

"Oh, wait, this was supposed to be a secret? Umm, I think I might have actually spilled the beans already while you were in the library..." exclaimed the Teade. 

I looked at her angrily, whereupon she crossed her arms, looked away, and pouted.

"Your grand plan was an evil organization? Dunno, sounds rather dull and ordinary," commented the succubus.

"Pshaw, so you have a better plan, or what?! Honestly, we have the funds, an HQ, and the backing to do so. If you're against it, there's the door. Go on, leave if you think you might get a better chance to fulfill whatever goal you are aiming for. I don't want to bother with annoying shit like this. You're either in or out. Make a choice, now!" I commanded.

Visibly shocked by my crude response, she tried to turn to Nyriel and Tulsi with a help-seeking look. But they signaled with their silence that they were on my side, or at least did not want to interfere.

She turned back to me and whispered, "I'm staying..."

Satisfied with her answer, I clapped my hands. "Wonderful, then we can finally discuss the first phase of the plan now. First of all, after Sophia told me about your original plan, Tulsi—the one about gaining strength and infiltrate the adventurer guild—I gave it some thought and think that it might truly be a good starting position for all of you to increase your power. At one point, they give you several benefits and different insights into documents and situations that one wouldn't usually have access to, which could prove extremely useful for future plans.  

"I will also try to find people with whom you can train your skills without any problems. This is especially important for Nyriel and Tulsi. As soon as I have a body for Sophia, she will be included in the training. For Deidre, I have something different in mind. You already have the skills, but I can feel that you have lost almost all of your energy for some reason. Therefore, in the beginning, you will focus on bulletin board missions and other things so that you can regain your strength as soon as possible. In general, the first phase is about consolidating our basis and finding more people who will excel in their roles.

"Since Nyriel has obviously already blurted out some things, I would like to clarify a few structures already. Even if I don't trust you all entirely yet, we have to start somewhere. It is planned that the organization will consist of six different main branches. One that is responsible for our organizations' overall security and secrecy, another that deals with intelligence gathering, a branch that will execute direct secret operations and assassinations. Furthermore, a branch whose tasks revolve around training and execution of large-scale operations, and finally, one that handles logistics and weapons as well as armor procurement—whether by purchasing them or forging them themselves. Each of these main branches is controlled by one or more people. I can already say that I have designated Tulsi for intelligence gathering and Sophia for secret operations and assassinations. Nyriel, once she is ready and caught up on what she missed, will be deployed where it will most benefit us. So until she is properly trained, she will always support one of the leaders. For you, Deidre, despite your faux pas just now, I have chosen the position as my temporary right-hand woman since you have the most experience. For the other departments, we will have to look for suitable people. We will invite them, neatly size them up and decide afterward how to proceed. But at the very beginning, as I said, the baseline will be to strengthen ourselves and gather some information.

"Since it was already mentioned that you can recognize the Status of others with identification crystals and Skills, I'll try if I can somehow get you into the adventurer guild through the Dark Trade Guild without any problems. In addition, I will give you the promised magical items later. So please, always carry them around with you. Also, I'll tell you what the next phase will be as we approach the end of the first phase. Furthermore, I will soon start my preparation to give Sophia a body of her own.

"Well, for now, I'm heading upstairs to the office to talk to the head maid so that I can take further action regarding the guild and the instructors. That's all. It would be for the best if you take the rest of the day off and do what you feel like doing. If you need gold coins or have any other requests, contact the head maid after I have finished discussing the other matters with her."

I was about to stand up when Tulsi quickly threw a question into the room, "What are we going to call the organization?

"Void's Origin," came my answer immediately. 

"I like it!" said Sophia, this time.

"No objections," Deidre agreed.

Nyriel just nodded in satisfaction. Huh, that went easier than I thought. I had to grin inwardly. The first step was done, even if it was only one of many to come. I was already looking forward to the chaos we would spread within this world in the future.

All. According. To. Plan.